It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jon Rahm is off and running at Torrey Pines — back where he won the U.S. Open last season and he was in great form on day one of the Farmers Insurance Open — closing with a sensational eagle at the 18th for a six-under par round of 66.
Of course Rahm-bo was low man on the South Course on Wednesday. Yes, Wednesday, this one got started early so the PGA Tour won’t have to fight the NFL Sunday championship games for eyeballs and ratings.
Jon was in pretty fast company and will be in the same threesome again on Thursday. He’s playing with world No. 4 Dustin Johnson and sixth-ranked Justin Thomas. You think it might have been third-ranked Patrick Cantlay in there instead of J.T. but for some odd reason, Cantlay isn’t in this all-star field. But with Rahm, D.J. and J.T., it was about as feature as a threesome can get this early in the week.
Thomas got off to the best start of the three. He was an eye-opening five-under par (31) on the front nine, a shot better than D.J. and two better than Rahm. But the back nine is where things can get testy on the big-boy South Course on the San Diego coast. The birdie tap was closed for J.T. and with bogeys at 14 and 16, he fell back to earth. Ditto for D.J. Nothing much happened for him coming home — a birdie, a bogey and seven pars.
Rahm got it in gear with some birdies (three) and two bogeys (13 and 15) and he was just four-under coming to the 18th. He unleashed a 300-yard drive then from 276 out, hit an incredible three-wood approach that came to a halt just 12-and-a-half feet from the cup. Of course he made it for eagle and that nifty six-under round. Rahm didn’t hold back when he described the shot: “It was probably one of the best swings I’ll make all year,” Rahm said. “That three-wood was absolutely perfect.”
Conditions on Wednesday were favorable and Rahm confirmed that after his round: Rahm called the conditions “relatively easy.” e
Not a bad start for D.J. and J.T. Both shot 68s and when they hit the dinner table, they’ll both probably feel they left some shots out there.
On Thursday, the star threesome heads over to the North Course, the easier of the two. At the end of the day, there will be a 36-hole leader as the entire field will have played both courses. The final 36 are on the big-boy course, where Rahm thrives.
